Mary Lou Retton, U.S. Olympic icon, fighting a 'very rare' form of pneumonia
Mary Lou Retton, one of the greatest names in U.S. Olympic history, “has a very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life,” according to her daughter McKenna Kelley’s Instagram story.
“She is not able to breathe on her own. She’s been in the ICU for over a week now," Kelley wrote.
According to Kelley's post, which appeared Tuesday afternoon, the family is accepting donations at *spotfund.
Retton, who won the women’s gymnastics individual all-around gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, is 55.
Kelley, who was a gymnast at Louisiana State University, did not immediately respond to messages left by USA TODAY Sports.
Who is Mary Lou Retton? Everything to know about the American gymnastics icon
How Mary Lou Retton became an icon
Retton became the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title when she captivated the audience in Los Angeles. As one of the breakout stars of the 1984 Summer Games, Retton also won a silver medal on the vault, bronze in the uneven bars and floor exercise, and helped lead the United States to a silver medal in the team competition.
The West Virginia native was honored that year on a famous Wheaties cereal box and later appeared as herself on a number of TV shows as well as in the motion picures, "Scrooged" and "Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult." In the fall of 2018, Retton competed in season 27 of "Dancing With the Stars."
Contributing: Steve Gardner and Ellen J. Horrow